why we ​are quiet

Why We Are Quiet21“Now brother will deliver up brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death.22And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved.23When they persecute you in this city, flee to another. For assuredly, I say to you, you will not have gone through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes.24“A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. 25It is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher, and a servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more will they call those of his household!26Therefore do not fear them. For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known. (Matt. 10:21-26 NKJV).

Jesus has warned of the reaction to the disciples of strangers and of men in power, both of the church and of the state. His warning about the reaction of family to each disciple hits a tenderer spot. For most of us, the powerful people of the world are remote, not among our trusted inner circle. Their enmity is understandable because it threatens their power. The disciples, hearing Jesus speak of betrayal by family, and by friends as close and dear to us as family, those whom we thought would keep us safe, are being taught a difficult truth. Those dearest to us are dear to a particular person, let us say, to Simon the fisherman. When Simon becomes Peter and devotes his life to Jesus, the name change is more than superficial. He becomes a new person. This new person does not have the same character as the old person. His interests are different. His priorities have changed. The things shared no longer exist in common, but belong to one only. The easy conversation on old subjects now are discussions with different points of view.

This is not an unusual story in the Bible. Jesus’ half-brothers (John 7:5) separated themselves from Him, but we see this division within families because of differences in belief about God throughout the Old and New Testaments. Just a few other examples illustrate Jesus’ point that holding foremost the perspective of a spiritual life can alienate those who still hold only the perspective of a physical life:

David’s plaintive cry expresses the sense of loss: Though I have stolen nothing, (they have lost their peace and) I still must restore it (Ps 69:4). What have those angry with the righteous lost? They have lost their false sense of peace, and they demand restoration. The easiest way to restore that false peace is to simply remove the one who declares the truth. The hardest way to restore peace is for everyone to change.

We know how the story is most likely to end. While the movement is young, the disciples can flee from city to city. There are new places to go, new people to meet, a chance for another new beginning. But new places dwindle in number. The number in open opposition to the new teachings grows, but the coming of the Son of Man will occur before they have exhausted the new places. And we know that there were places in Israel where Jesus and His disciples had not yet been when the crucifixion and the resurrection came.

Jesus said that the truth would be made known, and the disciples were not to fear those who rejected the message. Just as Jesus’ followers would be identified as belonging to Him, so would those rejecting the message be identified as followers of Beelzebub. Beelzebub is normally interpreted as Baalzabub, god of the Philistine city of Ekron. (Note that the original word is Beelzebul, in Syriac, “lord of dung,” or “lord of the house,” depending on your national perspective.) It is not surprising that the gods of one nation are often the devils of the nation’s enemies. The contrast of the gods of surrounding nations with El or Jehovah or God of the Hebrews is stark. Child sacrifice (contrast this concept with the story of Abraham and Isaac), temple prostitution (contrast with the commandment on marriage), idolatry (worship of the work of man’s hands, contrasted with the second commandment), and other characteristics leave little doubt as to whom we should worship. The enemies of Jesus try here to slander Him as a follower of another god. As Jesus points out throughout the Gospels, the religion of the day has substituted the idol of the law for the sanctity of the character of God, substituted Greek logic and Canaanite works for Hebrew relationship. Having the correct view of God and righteousness will not save the disciples from being tarred with the same feathers as their Master.​ The disciples, and His followers throughout the generations, are not to be quiet, not to hide their light under a basket. Jesus reassures the disciples and us. In spite of what may happen to individuals at specific times, truth cannot be overcome by lies and righteousness cannot be destroyed. The light will always overcome transitory darkness. Fear in the moment is banished by the light of eternal truth. Next article